welcome! jeremy freese is a professor in sociology at northwestern university. he finds blogging to be a good diversion from insomnia and a far better use of time than television.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

how to write a winning a doggerel poetry contest entry in fifteen minutes a day

I won the doggerel poetry contest for Mary and Brady's blogathon! I demolished the competition using a tried-and-true strategy:

1. Enter early. Like Presidential candidates who try to have high early fundraising totals partly to scare competitors out of entering--a tactic which actually worked in past election cycles--getting your intimidatingly awesome doggerel poem into the contest comments field early will give others pause before trying to compose their own entry.

2. Decide on a search term that fits the theme of the contest. For example, if the contest is part of a blogathon associated with libraries, choose the term "library."